While in Tampa Bay, John Tortorella was known for his up-tempo style of hockey and his mantra of “Safe Is Death” while having a team filled with Dan Boyle, Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, Vinny Prospal and Corey Stillman.Richards told Sportsnet that the way Tortorella coaches now is much different, “this is more of a defense first mentality here and in Tampa we had that “Safe is Death” motto and a little more offensive freedom.” He added, “we are a tough team to play against and everyone has bought into that.”

Ryan Callahan added, “The past couple of years we have tried to build a system here which is defensively minded, a hard team to play against and a team that blocks shots.”

Henrik Lundqvist said that it’s the Rangers work ethic that will drive them, “We are a hard working team. I don’t think we are more skilled than other teams, I just think that we show up every night and have 20 guys who are ready to pay the price.